§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, concerning the estimated cost of value added tax to Manchester United Football Club, 468W Manchester City Football Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club; what reply he has sent; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the hon. Member for Eccles concerning the estimated cost of value added tax to Swinton Rugby League Club; what reply he has sent; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HigginsI shall shortly be writing to the hon. Members.
§ Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect value added tax will have on hire-purchase payments on agreements made before the introduction of the tax.
§ Mr. HigginsIf goods sold under hire-purchase agreements have been supplied to the customer before 1st April, 1973, VAT will not be chargeable. The time of supply is governed by the date of removal of the goods, or, subject to conditions set out in Section 7 of the Finance Act, 1972, the date of issue of the tax invoice or payment for the goods.
§ Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect value added tax will have on outlay concerning agricultural drainage, farm buildings, fertilisers, feeding stuffs, purchse of seed, farm machinery, and fuel for farm heating, including incubators, and so forth.
§ Mr. HigginsFarmers' outlays on new works of agricultural drainage and farm buildings and on feeding stuffs, edible seeds and fuel will not increase by reason of the value added tax because transactions in these items will be zero-rated. Tax at the standard rate will be charged on the maintenance of agricultural drainage works and farm buildings, and on fertilisers, farm machinery and flower seeds; but the VAT credit mechanism will enable a registered farmer to recover the tax paid on these taxable inputs to his business.
The abolition of selective employment tax and purchase tax should be reflected in the cost of certain inputs to farmers.
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§ Miss Quennellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied with the number of farmers who have completed the value added tax procedures; and how this compares with other industries.
§ Mr. HigginsMost farmers can be expected to benefit from being registered for VAT, since they will be entitled to repayment of input tax borne by them. As at 29th November, the number of farmers who had applied for registration for VAT represented about 7 per cent. of the estimated total of farmers. The corresponding percentage in respect of the estimated total registrable population was 18 per cent.